『M』uddy 『C』ult: October 2020

Saturday, October 31, 2020

Seriously!? Review: Halloween & Friday the 13th

Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran
Directed by: John Carpenter
Language: English
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hr 31 mins

What better timing than to cover two iconic slashers than spooky season! Here's another pair of movies I got criticized for not seeing being a horror movie fan. I also took an extra step with both of these this time.

Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again. [Source: IMDb]

So, why did it take me this long to watch both of these legendary movies? Well, I never was interested in either of these killers. I consulted a friend on how deeply I should invest in these franchises, so I have a couple installments to talk about in both entries. Now, you ask, what did I think of Michael Myers's cinematic debut? It was alright. I really enjoyed the first person point of view at the beginning introducing our antagonist and I understand why that opener is so iconic. It adds a good setup and shock factor that Michael is just a mere child; a murder child, but a child nonetheless. The cat and mouse chase between Michael, Dr. Loomis, and Laurie was entertaining and, of course, the kills were great. The soundtrack is top notch and transcends the test of time. By the end of the movie, I was happy to now say that I have seen this and the unfortunate Rob Zombie remake/reboot...instead of just the Zombie retelling.

Once I was done with the 1978 movie, I skipped over to 2018's Halloween with Jamie Lee Curtis reprising her role as an even more badass, mature Laurie, determined to end Michael's years of mayhem. Judging from the previews, I thought it had a lot of promise and it convinced me to take the time out to watch the original movie that started it all. For the most part, I enjoyed it, but the relationship with Laurie and Michael was obviously the more entertaining parts of the movie.

In the end, I don't think I missed anything by not watching the 1978 classic as I've seen so many memorable clips from various countdowns and commentaries over the years. At the same time, I don't regret watching either of these movies either. I enjoyed them, but I don't see myself watching them again like most horror fans. I'm also happy I didn't waste my time with the 8 other entries in the franchise. I'm sure there's some good sequels in there, but I'm not that enthusiastic about finding out which ones are the quality ones, ~~unless someone requests me to.~~

Rating: 3.5/5

Starring: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor
Directed by: Sean S. Cunningham
Language: English
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hr 35 mins

A group of camp counselors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to reopen a summer camp which was the site of a child's drowning and a grisly double murder years before. [Source: IMDb]

Unlike Halloween, I did not see the 2009 reboot first and was mostly going off of comments I picked up from friends, media, and Scream. I knew the jest of what was gonna happen, the twist at the end, and the message discouraging pre-marital sex among horny teenagers. My "relationship" with Jason was a little less favorable than Michael as I first experienced his brute strength and swift stealth like moves in Freddy vs. Jason.

Watching this movie, I wasn't surprised with what I saw, but if I take out all my movie watching experience, I can easily tell why this film has been enjoyable for horror fans for decades. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough for me to join the Jason bandwagon. #teamfreddy I thought the killer reveal was a nice touch and something different for its time. I also acknowledge the "was that a dream or not" ending left a lasting impression. In short, it was entertaining for me, but if I had to compare the two, Halloween did a lot more cinematically in my opinion. Of course, neither movies are bad, just not my cup of tea.

As for the extra entry in this franchise, I made an attempt to watch all the installments my former co-worker recommended, but...I only ended up watching the second entry. I had full intention of checking out the third movie, but concluded that I didn't want to waste my time with my continued neutral feelings towards a franchise. Yes, it was nice to see Jason Vorhees in action in Friday the 13th Part 2, but wow~ was it campy! No pun intended. Jason really is a mama's boy and it really shows in that third act. The kills were entertaining and I commend Jason's commitment to the cause of slaughtering horny teens, but he couldn't keep my interest enough to trek through a few more movies in his catalog. ~~Once again, I would only move forward if someone requested me to.~~

Rating: 2.5/5

If there's something you want me to review, check out Muddy Cult's Patreon on how to submit requests.

Thursday, October 29, 2020

Unwrapped Review: Thirst

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Quick Movie Review

Still (2010, Thailand) | Rating: 3/5
In case you haven't been keeping up with things around here, I've been streaming a lot of spooky stuffs on Discord for spooky month and all of these entries were shown. This movie and the next three were unintentional foreign choices. I didn't realize what I did until the night came to watch them. This was the first movie for that weekend and I didn't know that it was an anthology collection. The movie starts off introducing most of our characters and then splitting off to their separate stories. The first was an emotional tale of survivor's guilt that I thought was pretty sweet. The second story shows a prisoner who is haunted by his deceased cellmate, which was initially interesting, but kinda bland. Next was a story about a deaf, mute drug dealer who has to deal with a customer who steals from him. His actions ultimately affect the whole apartment building, which was an entertaining chain of disgusting and ghostly events for everyone. Lastly was a story about two friends and a prostitute, who we see at the beginning of the movie, looking for a motel to do "business". Like most story collections, you're gonna get some hits and misses and I'd say it was about half and half...more or less. The strongest stories were "Flame" (first tale) and "Revenge" (third tale), while "Imprison" (second tale) was probably the weakest for me. Overall, I thought it was an interesting collection of ghost stories from Thailand, but definitely not the best of the best as far as horror anthologies go.

6-5=2 (2013, India) | Rating: 3/5
The first of the coincidental Indian movies ended up being a found footage flick; one of my least favorite genres. Granted I'm very open minded even if I don't particularly care for certain genres; also I didn't know this was a found footage movie. The movie follows a group of friends going a hiking/camping trip and supernatural shenanigans occur. Some things I enjoyed about this movie was the easy progression of weird things happening to our group of hikers. Yes, there are annoying characters, but I think the journey was worth spending time with them. I will admit that while watching this movie I was reminded a little of The Descent and The Blair Witch Project...in a good way on the latter.

Ludo (2015, India) | Rating: 2/5
There are quite a few movies with the same name and I found out through Wikipedia, while I was trying to read the whole story of this movie and failed, that the title is the name of a game created in India. If you catch this on Netflix like I did, you'll see that there's a collection of short stories coming out with the same title. Of course, neither of these things are related. Going back to this first Indian entry, I will have to agree with one IMDb user that I have like/dislike for this movie. I thought the premise was interesting as we follow two couples looking for a place to have "fun" and running into this creepy old couple wanting to play a deadly, ancient game with them. The visuals are definitely disturbing and the origin of the game is intriguing, but it falls apart when the story drifts further and further away from the present for that origin. That origin story felt like forever and when the movie decides to return to our main characters in present day, your attachment for them has mostly disappeared and they're complete strangers, which is unfortunate. This movie definitely had potential to be something downright creepy, but that detour to the past took way too long.

Pizza (2012, India) | Rating: 3/5
The last of the Indian horror got me curious what I set myself up for, because all three of these movies are different, but basically ghost stories. I know it's a staple in Asian culture, so I shouldn't be surprised by all the ghostly stories. The movie follows a pizza delivery man who is surprised by this writer girlfriend being pregnant. They disagree a bit about what to do, but the biggest issue is financial stability. As our main character carries on his normal work day, he makes a special delivery to a customer that turns sinister. While streaming this movie on Discord, I expected the story to go one way, but by the third act, the bait is swiftly taken from me and then slowly eased in front of me at the very end. I thought this was a fun little movie with some comedic moments from the pizza store staff. The twist was unexpected at first until you remember the core of the story, but at the same time it makes sense...mostly.

Coherence (2013, USA) | Rating: 2.5/5
For some reason when I see this title, I often question myself on the difference between this movie and Compliance. I don't know why...maybe it's the poster art or something. I have seen both and they're nothing alike and I hope to one day review Compliance during my movie review catch up. Anyway, this sci-fi thriller almost felt true to 2020 in some way; it made me nervous and amused simultaneously. The story follows a group of friends at a dinner party, anticipating the appearance of a comet. This spatial event somehow alters the reality of these friends and they try to figure out who belongs and who doesn't. For the most part, I was very on board with this group of people and was curious what direction the story would go. As talk of parallel universes and alternate realities came about, I became more interested, but somewhere in the middle it got...confusing and I became restless with certain events. Once the movie ended, all I could do is raise an eyebrow and move. I wasn't disappointed in the final act nor did I dislike it, but that journey to get to that ending was...an "interesting" trip. Like I said, I was down for the journey, but I started questioning the guide somewhere along the way. I'm open to watching an explaination video to convince me to like it a little more, but for now I'm not super crazy about this movie and I don't absolutely dislike it either.

If there's something you want me to review, check out Muddy Cult's Patreon on how to submit requests.

Monday, October 26, 2020

V-log: Hollywood, Screamfest, & L.A. Comic Con...Oh My!

Sunday, October 25, 2020

Quick Movie Review

Jacob's Ladder (2019, USA) | Rating: 1.5/5
I realized that this would be another good opportunity to do a comparison review, but honestly...I feel a little lazy about going back to the original movie starring Tim Robbins. Instead, I will say that everyone's talent was wasted on this pointless remake. I absolutely love Michael Ealy, but it pained me to see him try to turn this script into something comprehensible. I'm not a huge fan of the original, but I remember enjoying it years ago. I can't see myself saying the same for this version. I don't care about any of the characters, the script was confusing, and the twist was simply odd. In short, this movie was very bad and I'm glad that it's mostly been buried.

The Hunt (2020, USA) | Rating: 3.5/5
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make an "After Theater Review" for this "controversial" movie, but that gave me time to see it again at home on DVD. Honestly, seeing it a second time, I enjoyed it a little more. I was warned by one of my trivia buddies that she felt a little underwhelmed and when I saw it with my then co-worker, I shared that same sentiment at the end. Getting into spooky season, I had a rather fun time with this imperfect, hyper violent film. I can tell that these actors had fun making it too. I enjoyed the bait and switches, the intense action, and saticial view of right and left winged people. Yes, I said it! They made fun of everyone. I wasn't offended at all. In fact, I found it funny how overly aware they were with their libreralism and political correctness. If you want some bloody fun with good humor, this will keep you thoroughly entertained.

2001 Maniacs (2005, USA) | Rating: 2.5/5
Here and there I've heard this title in the horrorsphere and it took a Hulu expiration threat to push me to watch it recently. I didn't know if I knew that the legendary Robert Englund of Nightmare on Elm Street fame was in it. I also didn't know Lin Shaye was in it either and had no idea what I was getting myself into; my guess was cannibals. For the most part, I was right. This movie definitely wouldn't be made in this era of movies due to the dumb, racist Southerner jokes, but the characters are so cartoony it's easy to not find offense...at least the judging eyes gazing over the intrracial couple; everything is hyperbolic and ridiculous. It's all parody! I mean I laughed at a lot of these dumb, outdated stereotypes. Just the fun I saw in these actors having made me not take the content seriously...and they're cannibals. I had fun with it and, according to IMDb, it seems like everyone agrees more or less.

Southbound (2015, USA) | Rating: 3/5
I guess I forgot that this movie was an anthology, but I vaguely remember Nightmare Maven mentioned it in her review. Since it's been a while since I've seen said review, I thought this was going to be some sort of road trip horror flick, but no...there's a cult and giant monsters! I surprisingly enjoyed this anthology. I've seen a few horror anthologies and much like Trick 'r Treat, each mini story ties together from segment to segment, which was pretty cool. Now, is this the best horror anthology I've seen? No, but I did enjoy it. There was a good balance of action and character development and I liked how everything came together full circle.

The Lodge (2016, Canada) | Rating: 3.5/5
I honestly forgot I wanted to see this movie in theaters this year, until I saw Nightmare Maven upload her spoiler review for it. I immediately sought out for a theater playing it and opted out of seeing Blumhouses' Fantasy Island. This slow burning movie was not what I expected it to be and I thank the marketing department for that one. This was more than a couple kids not getting along with their dad's new girlfriend and them playing a trick on her. This was a psychological journey and I love those! I enjoyed the chemistry among these characters and the twists and turns the story fed us about this woman the kids despise. The payoff was definitely worth it!

If there's something you want me to review, check out Muddy Cult's Patreon on how to submit requests.

Fair Shake Reaction: We Are - Weeekly

We Are - Weeekly

(Genre: Kpop)

Friday, October 23, 2020

Fair Shake Reaction: Not Shy - ITZY

Not Shy - ITZY

(Genre: Kpop)

Thursday, October 22, 2020

Fair Shake Review: Solitude - Tori Kelly

Solitude - Tori Kelly

(Genre: Pop/R&B)

Links to watch in solitude:

Time Flies (Cover Video)

Unbothered (Lyric Video)

Don't Take Me Home (Audio)

Solitude Live (VR Video)

QuaranTEA with Tori Kelly (Week 1 Recap)

Sunday, October 18, 2020

Texas Frightmare Weekend 2019 Haul

Saturday, October 17, 2020

BM5's September 2020 Favorites

Favorite Music Videos

DOA - Rich Brian

There's been a few releases this month that have brought me much surprising joy. One of these came from Rich Brian's new project, 1999. I wasn't expecting him to further dive into his singing bag and 80's synth pop influences. This song was one of the standouts from the album and I had to share it with you all, if you haven't seen my review, yet. Hope you get as joy from it as I did.

Post Up - CL

The other surprise for me this month was "re-introduction" of sorts from QUEEN CL! I failed to mention this in my "Don't Do K-Pop" video, but I was trying to make CL be my gateway into K-Pop back when "Hello Bi+ches" and "Lifted" were being released. Obviously, that push in the western market was much more of a nudge. Therefore, I had to rekindle my relationship with CL when she finally left YG and dropped In the Name of Love EP which was a collection of previously written material. Now, it seems CL is ready to take the crown back from whoever you think that has it! Because, if you thought that she lost it..."That's cap!"

Favorite Short Film

A Long Time Coming - Wong Fu Productions

While tensions rise in American society, we see the importance of be socially aware. This can cause friction not only with random people online and friends, but even your own family. Being that people of color in the US all have many struggles, some that may have been caused by other minorities, fighting against overall injustice is something that everyone can get behind. Yet, the means of which to do that is always a concern. The addition of a pandemic isn't helping either. This short film does a fantastic job of suggesting how perspective and having open mind can help lead to conversations that can lead to understanding. Until we can come to that common ground, we can't build a solid foundation for the future. Enough of my short opinion piece, though. I'll the video do the talking and let you come to your own conclusion.

Favorite Music Discussion

Why Pop Music is Obsessed with This One Note - Andrew Huang

You know, I don't know why I haven't subscribed to this gentleman, yet. This time, instead of a "4 Producer, 1 Sample" video, we will talk about music theory and how it affects pop music. Yep, I bet you didn't think something like that could be so important to commercial music. Though, there really is a bit of science to creating music that pleases general audiences with how our brains typically operate. Here Andrew breaks down the current trend of what is called the "supertonic note". When he shows how many songs are currently utilizing it these days, I'm sure you'll be amazed like I was. Although, The Weeknd might be upset about how people are trying to dip into his secret sauce...

Full Sept. 2020 Favorites playlist: click here